Naked's Jonny Shaw on specialist gaming arm Play

Shaw said Play was born because of interest from gaming clients in Japan. "A lot of these gaming companies talked to me and together we realised there is a huge gap between how people are playing and the world of marketing. In the digital world, brands and brand owners know very little about social gaming and how to use this in marketing. At the moment social gaming is often an after thought to a campaign,” he said. “Play is broader than just gaming and video games. We believe a whole new world of relationship and brand building will emerge through the discipline,” he added.

The name Play was conceived because of the importance of the activity in people's lives. "Work life balance that people so often talk about is dead end," says Shaw. "We believe if we can hook marketing onto a playful mindset and game design which keeps people engaged, satisfied, happy and sane, there's a lot of potential for it to work."

Shaw, who will lead a team out of the agency's Japanese offices, explained Play will also have a strong footing on the West Coast of America. However, he emphasised Naked plans for Play to become a global discipline to service the agency’s clients, wherever they may be based.

More details about Play’s strategy and its list of clients are expected to be announced in the middle of this year.